Medicare payments to hospitals for inpatient and outpatient care could rise 3.25 percent in the coming fiscal year.
At least that is what members of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) discussed recommending to Congress when they met last week in Washington.
During MedPAC’s two-day public meeting, members discussed recommending to Congress a 3.25 percent increase in Medicare inpatient and outpatient payments in FY 2016.   They will vote on their recommendation at their next meeting.
A presentation to MedPAC members by their staff also offered a number of observations about Medicare services:

• Demand for hospital services is stable.
• With hospital occupancy down to 60 percent, it appears hospitals have excess capacity.
• The quality of care hospitals provide is improving according to several metrics.
• Hospital cost growth is down.
• Hospitals’ Medicare margins are steady, although they remain negative, especially for outpatient services.
• MedPAC should consider recommending policies to reduce or eliminate differences between payments to hospitals and doctors’ offices for selected outpatient services.

For a closer look at the Medicare inpatient and outpatient issues MedPAC examined at its December meeting, see the presentation on this subject here, on MedPAC’s web site.